Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Better than Bryant Park

[For those of you who have never lived in NY, or seen the Sex and the City movie, Project Runway, the Real Housewives of New York, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, or anything else on E!, Bryant Park is the location of New York Fashion Week. Oh and it is the best spot in NY for Sunday Brunch!]

Last Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, the Pacific Arts Festival held Fashion Shows at the auditorium to showcase clothing from different islands in the South Pacific. I missed Saturday but all anyone was talking about the next day was that the Tahitian woman displayed "pre-colonial" clothing that consisted of a grass skirt and little else. So come Monday I decided I had to check this event out for myself. We went early and got seats right up front. Monday's show included Norfolk Islands, Samoa, Palau, and Taiwan. Each island nation interpreted "fashion show" very differently.

Norfolk Islands displayed dresses dyed using natural vegetation for prints:



Samoa put on quite a display, showcasing everything from pre-colonial wear to modern clothing.





Even Celine Dion made an appearance!!


Some girls from Palau performed a traditional dance in modern outfits.


And finally Taiwan...

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Night Time Events

Every evening during the Festival there are performances held all over the island. We've been trying to go to a different venue every night to get a taste of all the different activities going on. Here's a sampling...

On Tuesday night we went to the Tradewinds hotel to watch a band from Rape Nui. Here are Danny, April, and Naomi dancing on the lawn at the show.


On Wednesday Night we went to the Pavillion to see the Solomon Islands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Rapa Nui, Taiwan, American Samoa, and Kiribati.

Papua New Guinea has 820 indigenous languages and hundreds of different culture groups. I think about 10 different culture groups are being represented at the festival. They all wear very different clothes and perform entirely different dances. Here are Sarah and I with one of the culture groups from PNG.


There are nearly 1000 islands in the Solomon Islands and the residents speak 74 different languages. This information would have been impressive under any other circumstances but unfortunately the Solomon Islands followed PNG and the crowd was still trying to figure out how the PNG government actually managed to function with over ten times that many languages! Here are some dancers from the Solomon Islands.


On Thursday we went to see a play about a Maori soldier fighting in WWII. It managed to be both humorous and really serious and touched upon a lot of important historical events. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed in the auditorium.

On Friday we went to see the show at the stadium. There were dancers from French Polynesia, Fiji, American Samoa, and Papua New Guinea. However the highlight was the World Fire Knife Dance Competition that took place after performances.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Day Time Activities

The Pacific Arts Festival has been unbelievable. The main festival village is located right outside my office building so every day at lunch I go watch dance performances on the beach and negotiate with the nice man from Papua New Guinea to sell me this beautiful woven basket (large enough for me to fit into comfortably) at a quarter of his asking price...

Anyhow here are some highlights from the festival:

Some dancers from Papua New Guinea before they went on stage. The women are all topless and there was some concern about crowd response. Apparently when the festival was held in Western Samoa 8 years ago some people threw rocks and trash on stage to protest the nudity. Since both Western Samoa and American Samoa are very religious, festival organizers anticipated the same would happen here and ran a radio campaign for a month before the festival reminding people to respect other cultures. It seemed to work because everyone was very respectful!


Barbara, Eric, and Melissa taking a break from work to enjoy the festival.


Posing with some of the guys from fiji.


The guys from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) are definitely a crowd favorite. The guy on the right told me I was very beautiful and asked me if I would marry him and move back to easter island. If you don't hear from me for a while...there is a good chance you can find me there!

Pacific Arts Festival (Part 1 of 4,321,042)

The Pacific Arts Festival has officially begun! The Pacific Arts Festival is an event held every four years to celebrate artists in the South Pacific. Islands in the South Pacific take turns hosting the event and so it is a huge honor that American Samoa was selected this year. In addition to "National Clean Up Day" people all over the island have been going out of their way to beautify the island. And I have to give everyone credit because it really does look better!



The festivities kicked off with an incredible "Olympic Style" March of Nations. I went with Barbara and some of the Archeology interns on island and somehow we managed to find ourselves sitting in the VIP section three rows behind the Governor!!! Definitely some of the best seats in the house! To our right was a delegate from New Zealand and right in front of us was a delegate from Papua New Guinea. The ceremony began with a speech from the Governor and the Festival Coordinator.



The highlight was the following quote from the governor:

"If God is the Michelangelo, then the Pacific Islands are his Mona Lisa."

Perhaps funnier than the actual quote however were the reactions of the people around me. The Italian to my right just shook her head and looked dumbfounded. The American archeologist to my right paused, thought about it, and then with a little hesitation said "Wait I thought it was that Da Vinci guy." Meanwhile everyone else around us just nodded their heads approvingly. Classic island moment.

After that came the parade. As each of the countries delegations passed by they performed a traditional song and dance and presented a gift to the Governor's wife. Here are some highlights (pictures courtesy of Barbara):

Waiting for the Parade to start


The Tahitian dancers were phenomenal


The Samoan delegation played conch shells


The women from New Zealand had great tops. The mens costumes (mainly body paint and feathers) were great too but unfortunately they moved around too much to get a good picture.


Unfortunately the delegation from Hawaii did not perform up to our expectations.


Barbara's future husband


Even Jesus made an appearance! If you can't see it the sign in front of Jesus reads "Architecture."

Sunday, July 20, 2008

In the News

The following article was published last Saturday in the American Samoa News and the Western Samoa News. I wrote the paragraph on the NOAA internship program:


ASCC Marine Science Internships Facilitate Hands-on Learning
ASCC Press Release
July 19, 2008


Anyone involved in the sciences, or any of the professions based largely on activity, will tell you that theory will only take you so far without practice. At the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), the Marine Science program seeks to close the gap between theory and practice through internship programs. According to Lauren Wetzell, ASCC Marine Science instructor, “Internship opportunities, where students learn through hands-on experiences, help bridge a gap between academia and the working world. Internships also help them develop skills they can use in future employment. As students follow their interests and apply their skills, they get a sense of whether they might want to pursue a certain career path. During their internships, students build relationships and develop a network of professionals who may assist them in further career development.”

As an example of a student whose experience as an intern enabled him to turn his educational goals into a professional career, University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program Junior Extension Agent Ephraim Temple refers to recent graduate Francis Leiato. “Francis graduated this past June with a double major in Marine Science and Liberal Arts,” said Temple, “and thanks to his experiences as an intern, he now has a job pursuing his area of interest.” Leiato participated in several internships during his years at ASCC. The Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) funded the most recent of these, through a University of Hawaii partnership with the National Marine Sanctuaries Program-Pacific Region and support from ASCC and UH Sea Grant. Leiato and four other students worked with HIMB researcher Scott Godwin, studying the various groups of marine invertebrates, such as sponges, corals, hydroids, and anemones. They then put their newly acquired scientific training to work here at home by conducting surveys of reef flats in Auto, Asili, and Tisa’s Cove. The findings of Leiato and the other students will form the basis of a booklet due for publication later this year which describes native Samoan sea cucumbers. He also participated in a 2006 aquaculture internship sponsored by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant awarded to the Pacific Islands Educational Partnership Consortium (PIEPC) to develop faisua farming in American Samoa.

Leiato’s interest in aquaculture (the farming of seafood) eventually led him to successfully apply for a job in the Land Grant/CNR division at ASCC. Today he works at developing an aquaculture demonstration facility for the culture of tilapia and aquarium fish. Local tilapia farmers now use the knowledge passed along by Leiato to produce their own feeds using locally produced products. He works directly with UH Sea Grant extension agent Temple on a number of projects to improve aquaculture capacity in the Territory. “Francis obviously learned valuable academic and job skills from his internship experiences at ASCC. I feel confident in giving him different challenges knowing that he has the practical knowledge of aquaculture systems and can explore and implement solutions on his own,” Temple said. This past June, Leiato received an invitation to represent the ASCC Marine Science department at a National Science Foundation/ Advanced Technological Education-sponsored workshop on coral reef taxonomy held in Palau. Leiato will work with ASCC faculty to integrate information from the workshop into future developments of the College’s Marine Science curriculum.

With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the American Samoa Department of Commerce currently exploring the possibility of developing a national marine sanctuaries network in American Samoa, more internship opportunities could soon open up. NOAA will select candidate sites through a process of biological and socioeconomic assessments conducted at coastal sites throughout the American Samoa archipelago. During the preliminary phase of this project, NOAA and DOC will collaborate with ASCC to conduct a socioeconomic analysis of the villages adjacent to the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Emily Gaskin, a NOAA fellow on detail in American Samoa will run the project in collaboration with Seeseei Toa, a Natural Resource Science student at ASCC. Preliminary work on the project includes conducting interviews and distributing surveys to gather information about stakeholders and users, the extent of their use, and local attitudes towards marine conservation. Upon completion of the study, Gaskin and Toa will prepare a report advising NOAA and DOC about socioeconomic variables that could influence the expansion project.

Collaborations between various agencies and the ASCC Marine Science program this fall semester will result in more than 10 new internship opportunities for qualified students, regardless of their major. The collaborating agencies look to a cross-disciplinary field such as Marine Science to find self-motivated, dependable, and career oriented college students to fill these positions. These unique internship opportunities will give students a chance to explore activities that could lead to careers involving the sustainability of marine natural resources. Anyone seeking more information on Marine Science internships should contact Lauren Wetzell, Marine Science Coordinator, or Ephraim Temple, UH Sea Grant Extension Agent, through the main ASCC switchboard at 699-9155 or by emailing e.temple@amsamoa.edu.

http://www.wsamoa.ws/index.php?m=25&s=&i=7916

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Another hurdle overcome!

Things have a mysterious way of working themselves out on this island. I've tried very hard to avoid making the obvious comparisons to the TV show "Lost" but lately I have been feeling quite a bit like John Locke. No matter what challenges present themselves, they always seem to get resolved in the most incredible ways. Case in point, Noel Afalava, my new intern! Noel contacted me earlier this week about the internship position. She is a health sciences student at ASCC and has considerable experience doing environmental projects in American Samoa. Noel is Samoan but was born and raised in California and she moved to American Samoa for High School. She seems very bright and motivated and I am sure I will be able to bring her up to speed very quickly. Huge relief!!

Now if I could just find my camera...

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Adventures in the South Pacific

Life in the South Pacific is an adventure. One thing you can be sure of is that no two days will ever be the same. In fact, there is probably cause for concern if you make it through an entire day and some crisis has not occurred that day. That being said, you quickly learn to laugh at everything. After all every crisis can be solved with a little patience (and the help of a couple of the friendliest people I have ever come across). Here is a sampling of the events that have occurred in the past couple weeks:

The Car
Three weeks to the day after purchasing my first car, I was driving to work along the coastal road and my car decided to stop driving. Mind you, this wasn't a gradual slow down. One moment I was driving along the road at a casual 25mph (the local speed limit) and the next minute nothing. Fortunately since most cars drive well below the speed limit I was in no danger so I sat there for a couple minutes debating my next move. After calling everyone in my phone and learning that everyone was already at work (at 7:15 in the morning...who said people don't work here??) I got out of my car and stood there hopelessly for a couple minutes. Low and behold within 5 minutes half a dozen cars had pulled over and several very large Samoan men came to my rescue and pushed my car a considerable distance down the road to the closest pull off area where I could wait for a tow truck. When the tow truck came I was quoted a price of $85, which I did not have on me and so I offered to stop off at the bank on the way to the mechanic. Turns out the ATM was out of money (very common on this island) and since there are only two ATMs on Tutuila that take my off-island ATM card all I could do was offer them the $25 that I had in my purse (about $4 in quarters) and a box of chocolate my boss had brought back from Hawaii the previous day. And it worked!! Chocolate works miracles on this island I have discovered and tow truck drivers seemed very satisfied by the deal. Anyhow to sum up, it turned out my radiator was broken and the car dealership offered to pay for a majority of the replacement costs. Success!

The Flood
A couple day later I was trying to figure out why I only got hot water sporadically in my house. Now I would like to believe that I am an independent modern type of girl but really when it comes to anything technological/plumbing related I really should know by now that I am completely useless. Nevertheless I decided that this time I was going to solve the problem myself and braved the hot water heater in my back closet. I turned a couple knobs and switched a couple switches and everything seemed to be going all right until I found the red handle. Now it made perfect sense to me to turn the red handle. After all red is often associated with heat and maybe this was the problem. IT WAS NOT. I hadn't turned the thing more than a quarter inch when it popped off in my hand and water went flying EVERYWHERE. And this wasn't your normal trickle of water either. This was a major flood of water that was quickly distributing itself all over my house! I panicked and pushed my entire body up against the water cooler to temporarily stop the flow. This kind of worked and I was eventually able to force the knob back in long enough to get a plumber out to the house. By the time I got back from work that day the heater had been replaced and I am pleased to announce that I know have hot water! Never mind the damp floor...

The Intern
Later that week I got some truly terrible news. My intern, Seeseei Toa, recently had to leave the internship. Seeseei is a Natural Resource Management student at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC). She has been helping me to identify key informants, gather contact information, translate documents, and identify cultural nuances that could impact our data collection. In addition, she was planning on assisting with informal interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Since I do not speak Samoan, it is essential that I work with a native speaker on site visits. Although most Samoans do speak English, it is a cultural sensitivity to visit villages only when accompanied by a local resident. In addition, federal restrictions limit the number of surveys that I am allowed to collect as a federal employee. By working with Seeseei and ASCC I am be able to collect more surveys without violating any federal regulations.

Unfortunately, Seeseei recently received news that her eight year old sister was diagnosed with Leukemia and would have to leave for Hawaii to receive treatment. Seeseei was chosen to accompany her sister to Hawaii for the duration of her treatment. We all wish Seeseei’s sister a speedy recovery but unfortunately it could be months before she is able to return to American Samoa. Regrettably Seeseei had to quit the internship program one week before we were planned to begin our interviews and I am unable to proceed as scheduled. I have contacted ASCC but given that the summer is already half way over and most people already have plans, it is proving to be really difficult to find another replacement. Even when a replacement intern is found, I will then need to begin training them on the survey and interview process. Hopefully I will have this latest problem cleared up shortly!!

In other news...
The Pacific Arts Festival begins this week. Many many many stories to come...

Friday, July 11, 2008

The case of the missing camera...

In other news, the host of the party where I misplaced my camera last weekend was going through his pictures and found a picture of someone using my camera! He's not sure who the kid is but he thinks he's a friend of his daughters and hopefully he can track him down. My camera is the nikon coolpix 3200 in the back right side of the picture. If anyone knows this guy and can get my camera back it would be GREATLY appreciated!!

National Clean Up Day!

In preparation for the Pacific Arts Festival later this month, the governor issued a territory-wide clean up day in American Samoa. All government agencies were assigned a specific stretch of road or beach to clean. Since the National Marine Sanctuary Office is housed in the Department of Commerce, I had the pleasure of spending the day cleaning Utulei Beach, located directly accross the street from none other than the sewage plant! Fortunately the smells weren't too bad but the rain and wind did present a bit of a hurdle. Nevertheless everyone really pitched in, collecting garbage (mostly beer bottles and soda cans), mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, etc...and by the end of the day our section looked really great. Our success may have been in part due to our fabulous matching blue t-shirts, which came in XL, XXL, and XXXL and read: D.O.C in huge letters on the back. However on our way home we noticed that the Office of Public Works (who really should have been responsible for the entire clean up in the first place) had decided to bull doze the beach in their assigned area. I conveniently happened to be driving with the one person on the island who issues permits for such things and as it turned out they had had not received any type of clearance to do anything other than "clean the beach" (hence national clean up day). So we pulled over to issue a stop order to save what little remained of the haphazardly bull dozed beach only to learn that the Governor not only approved of the project but he had actually requested the destruction ensue. Apparently the Governor doesn't need a permit!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Celebrating the Fourth of July in American Samoa with an Argentinean Asado

This weekend the resident Argentinean/Peruvian family in American Samoa hosted an Argentinean Asado (complete with a roasted pig) to send off their daughter who is leaving for Japan to dance professionally for the summer. The theme of the event was "polynesian dance" and everyone came decked out in the latest traditional fashions. Those who tried to avoid wearing costumes were promptly dressed by the host upon arrival. Everything from grass skirts and coconut bras, to the more traditional samoan styles could be seen throughout the party. There was even a samoan singing group who performed periodically throughout the evening. Unfortunately as I was running around taking pictures of everyone I managed to misplace my camera! No surprise there (those who have travelled with me know how talented I am at misplacing cameras) but it means I don't have any pictures of the event. I'll try to track down some photos from other people and post them shortly...